MIT boffins play BUILDING-SIZED Tetris

HPC blog This is one of those stories that just makes me grin and giggle (not a simpering, girlish giggle, but a strong, manly giggle). In their latest display of technical hackery, MIT students built a Tetris game that uses an entire building as the game board.

According to the article, they’re using 153 windows on the side of the MIT Green building to host the game. It looks like the grid is nine windows wide and 15 stories tall.

The images on the windows aren’t projections; they’re probably LEDs placed inside each window and, of course, synched up with the game console at ground level via wireless.

(Of course, if you wanted to wring the absolute highest level of performance out of it, you’d probably go 10 GbE over copper... but that would be overkill.)

The only thing they missed, probably mercifully, is the loud Russian music that plays incessantly during the game, and the noises that occur when you clear a row. But I wouldn’t have been surprised if they had somehow converted surrounding bus shelters into flat-panel speakers.

Be sure to read to the bottom of the story, where Kevin includes a list of other notable MIT hacks – it’s good reading. It’s also food for thought when designing your own hacks. And, incidentally, if you’ve done anything along these lines – or you’re planning to – how about letting us know in the comments section below? ®